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There were separate threads last year for each position, and it helped show depth, undervalued guys, sleepers/bust, and I thought it was really helpful to read through and decide positions to target and wait on.

Anyways, C can be the 1st one. Commonly referred to as very deep last year with a lot of people waiting on it, C ended up being the most disappointing position. A lot of guys busted or underperformed, and left a lot of owners stuck in a difficult C situation. Sal Perez disappointed, Miguel Montero was terrible, Wieters struggled, Flowers (the common sleeper pick) was awful, Avila and Arencibia struggled, Grandal got hurt, Ruiz couldn't follow up his 2011 season, and overall: catcher was a mess. While there were some bright spots, it ended up being a thin position.

I figured it's never too early to start with breaking down the position Here's a few sleepers and busts to me:

Sleepers:

Josmil Pinto - Finished up a second straight strong year in the minors and also looked good in his brief time in the bigs, Pinto seems like he could be very consistent. Is a great contact hitter with power, he could be a solid value pick since he seems likely to avoid hype being in Minnesota and will end up being a late round pick. His numbers make him look like he could be similar to a Jonathan Lucroy type, which is very useful in fantasy.

Wilson Ramos - No Suzuki for next year likely means no timeshare, and that could mean good value for him. He's been useful when desperate for a C the last few years while sharing time, and now that he may finally get his chance to play everyday, he could be ready to breakout. If you are like me and don't like to take someone like Posey or Molina early, Ramos may be a trendy pick for me in drafts next spring.

Busts:

Wilin Rosario - I obviously like Rosario a lot, and he helped me win 2 of my leagues last year, but the reality is that he doesn't have great plate discipline and plays bad defense. While it was better last year, it still wasn't great. His power is obviously great and he has a great shot to lead all C in homers, but it's his draft position that will likely turn me away from him. I'm guessing he'll go early this year, and I just won't be willing to pay the price for him. I liked him a lot last year when he was going late, but his value will get a big boost leading up to this year. He'll likely end up being the 2nd or 3rd catcher taken, behind Posey and maybe Molina.

Joe Mauer - I never really understood all the hype he's gotten in his career. He had one strong year in 2009 with 28 homers that has proven to be a fluke, yet people continue to draft him as a top catcher. He's a very safe option with a high average, but his other stats just aren't great. Don't really see why he gets taken so early. If I wanted to take a catcher early, I'd much rather take Molina over him, who is very similar except he gets more HR/RBI than Mauer. Not to mention, Mauer ended this year with concussion issues, and Minnesota has a bad history with them (Morneau).

What are your thoughts on C for 2014? Hope it's not too early for this.

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Rosario's plate discipline is scary bad. Guys with that kind of plate discipline have the potential to have huge bust years. I wouldn't touch him at his ADP. Lucroy or Santana will go a little later than Rosario and are much safer IMO because of their plate discipline.

Santana is a great option because he's probably only going to be playing C a few days a week, so he won't be as beat up over the course of the year. He's going to play every day at C, 1B, or DH, so he'll have the most ABs. And he walks the most of any catcher by far, so the runs will be high. Also he's a safe bet for 20-25 homers and there's no reason he can't hit .280. Santana can really hit and he should only get better now that he can focus less on catching. Also like Lucroy a lot because he keeps the Ks down, which gives a player more margin for error. McCann is another player to monitor to see if he signs with an AL team, as obviously that could lead to more ABs at DH.

Catcher is a position where there is wide variance between year to year offensive performance because of the defensive demands and how beat up these guys get. A lot of the "sleeper" options can bust because you never know what physical issues a player may have to deal with. We've seen guys like Avila, Montero, Grandal, etc look like potentially reliable options only to be derailed by inconsistency and physical problems. That's why Napoli and V-Mart were great options this year, not having to deal with the demands of catching. Mauer and Santana are two guys who could be in similar spots next year because they won't be behind the plate a ton.

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Top Tier: Posey and Rosario are the cream of the crop but Yadier Molino is the Energizer Bunny and is still in the elite ranks. Less homers but excellent average. Lucroy had a bad first month of the season then clicked back into super good hitter mode so should be good to go next season. All 4 of them also hit for good average too.

Second Tier: If Mauer goes to 1B next season then perhaps his energy level stays up more and he might find a little bit more power. Sal Perez had a up and down season but finished really strong. Wilson Ramos finally gets to play full time barring getting kidnapped in the off season again. Juan Castro doing it on a lousy team. Santana has the power but he dipped a little this season.

Third Tier: Weiters, Piersinski, Salty, McCann (depends where he ends up) and, if he gets playing time, Gattis.

Lottery Tickets: Pinto with hopes Mauer moves to 1B. Yan Gomes maybe.

Streamer: Russell Martin. If in a small enough league that he is in the FA pool he is great to pick up during one of his insane "streaks."

Bounce Back? Miguel Montero? I have no idea what happened to Mr Dependable this season. Might be worth a late round pick to test drive him for a month.

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Won't be touching Salty in any 1 Catcher leagues. In 2 catcher leagues Id rather take a flier on Pinto, D'arnaud, Yan Gomes than Salty. Guy is still K'ng around 30% Coming off a .372 BABIP season. He was only good before because he could get ya 20 bombs. Only 14 last year? Yes, he is a Free agent, but if he isn't going to re-sign with the Red Sox. His situation will be worse.

As for Miguel Montero? His Contact skills are faltering. StrwSwing, K rate are all going up. ISO is going down even though he had the same HR/FB rate. He was about 30 points below his career BABIP. He will have a little bounce back in batting average. The Catching might be starting to take a bit of a toll on him. I'm not confident he plays 140 games at this stage.

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Won't be touching Salty in any 1 Catcher leagues. In 2 catcher leagues Id rather take a flier on Pinto, D'arnaud, Yan Gomes than Salty. Guy is still K'ng around 30% Coming off a .372 BABIP season. He was only good before because he could get ya 20 bombs. Only 14 last year? Yes, he is a Free agent, but if he isn't going to re-sign with the Red Sox. His situation will be worse.

The Sox are going to go after him but they don't really want to offer more than a 2 year deal since they have a couple of good catching prospects in the minors.

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What about Stephen Vogt next year? I'm not just saying this because of his game-winning hit last night lol. The guy was always a good hitter in the minors. Maybe as a second C for those in two-catcher leagues.

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What about Stephen Vogt next year? I'm not just saying this because of his game-winning hit last night lol. The guy was always a good hitter in the minors. Maybe as a second C for those in two-catcher leagues.

I like Ramos this coming season since he should be getting the majority of the work. I also think Miguel Montero should provide nice value in 2014.

In a deeper league, I'd keep an eye on Alex Avila. He had a nice August and September. The problem with him is that he gets the stuffing beat out of him a lot. The bumps and bruises definitely affect his offensive ability, but if he can carry over his success from the end of this year into next, I think he has 12HR 55RBI upside.

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What do you guys think of Wellington Castillo in a 2 catcher league? Coming off knee surgery but they say he should be ready for spring training. Probably has the job all to himself with Navarro set to hit free agency and hit for power in the minors. I know I'm going to be targetting him late in an AL east/NL only, 2 catcher league where I have Ramos as a cheap keeper.

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Joe Mauer - I never really understood all the hype he's gotten in his career. He had one strong year in 2009 with 28 homers that has proven to be a fluke, yet people continue to draft him as a top catcher. He's a very safe option with a high average, but his other stats just aren't great. Don't really see why he gets taken so early. If I wanted to take a catcher early, I'd much rather take Molina over him, who is very similar except he gets more HR/RBI than Mauer. Not to mention, Mauer ended this year with concussion issues, and Minnesota has a bad history with them (Morneau).

Mauer has led the league in OPS for catchers in three out of the past five years, and has finished top-5 in every season of his career except the injury-shortened 2011.

OK, the 28 HR is a fluke. But a consistent 10 HR / 70 RBI with a .310+ AVG is every bit as good as Yadier.

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Joe Mauer - I never really understood all the hype he's gotten in his career. He had one strong year in 2009 with 28 homers that has proven to be a fluke, yet people continue to draft him as a top catcher. He's a very safe option with a high average, but his other stats just aren't great. Don't really see why he gets taken so early. If I wanted to take a catcher early, I'd much rather take Molina over him, who is very similar except he gets more HR/RBI than Mauer. Not to mention, Mauer ended this year with concussion issues, and Minnesota has a bad history with them (Morneau).

Mauer has led the league in OPS for catchers in three out of the past five years, and has finished top-5 in every season of his career except the injury-shortened 2011.

OK, the 28 HR is a fluke. But a consistent 10 HR / 70 RBI with a .310+ AVG is every bit as good as Yadier.

Agreed, his average also helps his value a lot.

Someone dropped Mauer in our league when he hit the DL and a guy picked him up and will be using a keeper position on him.

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Joe Mauer - I never really understood all the hype he's gotten in his career. He had one strong year in 2009 with 28 homers that has proven to be a fluke, yet people continue to draft him as a top catcher. He's a very safe option with a high average, but his other stats just aren't great. Don't really see why he gets taken so early. If I wanted to take a catcher early, I'd much rather take Molina over him, who is very similar except he gets more HR/RBI than Mauer. Not to mention, Mauer ended this year with concussion issues, and Minnesota has a bad history with them (Morneau).

Mauer has led the league in OPS for catchers in three out of the past five years, and has finished top-5 in every season of his career except the injury-shortened 2011.

OK, the 28 HR is a fluke. But a consistent 10 HR / 70 RBI with a .310+ AVG is every bit as good as Yadier.

He's also money in BB or OBP leagues. However, the steady increase in his K% is somewhat concerning, particularity this year ( 17.5!%). Hasn't seemed to effect his numbers yet though. Pretty odd....